"Therefore
let us not sleep, as others do; but let us watch and be sober. For they that
sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of Faith
and Love; and for an helmet, the Hope of Salvation.

For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should
live together with Him." (1 Thes. 5: 6 -10).

A
number of years ago, Dr. Billy Graham stated: "The world wants it
straight but the church wants it in circles!" How sad!

Jesus
said: "...If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed.
And ye shall know the TRUTH and the truth shall make you free" (John 8: 31-32)

And
St. Pauladmonished: "Preach the Word;
be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the
truth..."
(2 Timothy 4: 2- 4)

We
are now living in the closing days of time! God's great time clock is about
to strike 'Midnight'.

The
handwriting is on the wall: Time is short and Judgment is prophesied to come
to a Christ - rejecting world! Soon, the day of mercy will be over and Jesus
will return for His Church! An angel will then step out on space and
come down with a powerful message to a sin-filled world. Placing one foot
upon the sea and the other on dry land, he will raise his hand to heaven and
swear by Him Who lives forever, that Time shall be no more!"
(Revelation 10: 5-6)

THE
CHURCH IS ASLEEP TODAY!

I
believe that the Church is asleep today across the world, and has failed to
take the commands of Jesus Christ seriously! Jesus knew this would happen,
so He asked the question: "..Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh,
will He find faith on the earth? " (Luke 18: 8). A lukewarm, backsliddenChurchhas
taken the leadership of Christ's Body out of the hands of the blessed Holy
Spirit and placed into human hands! and the results are disastrous!

In
this message, I share Scriptures that give us an accurate picture of the
Church today. At every critical junction, the Church was asleep!

1. JONAH
- A PICTURE OF A DISOB

EDIENT
& REBELLIOUS CHURCH!

In
Jonah 1: 1- 6, we find a picture of a rebellious & disobedient
church! Jonah was a special messenger which God wanted to use. He was
commanded to go to Nineveh with a warning of coming judgment. He refused and
deliberately took a ship to Tar shish, running away from God's call on his
life and the direct command of the Almighty!

We
see the same thing happening today. Many put their own agenda ahead of god's
agenda. they serve themselves or others before serving God! God has become
only a convenience or an errand boy, instead of the Commander-in-Chief and
Master of our lives! God's call is put on the back burner of our schedule, a
second fiddle, a spare wheel, instead of the center of our lives!

In
his rebellion, Jonah "rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of the Lord, and went down to Joppa..." He used the
missionary money to do 'his own thing'! In his complacency he went
"down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast
asleep!" A picture of today's rebellious Church! Refusing to
preach the Gospel. Refusing to fast and pray and seek God for Revival.
refusing pay our tithes and win souls May God help us!

2.
SAMSON - A PICTURE OF A WORLDLY CHURCH!

In
Judges 16:
19-16 - 21) we see
a picture of the worldly Church asleep upon the lap of the world! Samson was
an anointed, gifted, and spirit empowered Nazarite - a picture of a
bold, victorious and powerful Church tearing down the strong holds of the
enemy! Winning victory after victory until the enemy found a chink in
his Armour, a weakness that he could exploit.

And
then, the disastrous fall ! God's champion, stripped of his power, devoid of
his eyes, a pitiful hulk of humanity, denigrated, defeated, had become a
laughing stock in the eyes of his enemies! Like an oxen, grinding in the
mill. Oh, God help us. Oh, God help your Church.

It
didn't happen overnight. There were warning shots fired across the
'bow of his boat'! He had plenty time to change course, but he didn't!
Samson played the fool and lost! He lost his anointing, his power, his
position of authority and leadership and his life!

Samson
was a gift from God to his parents and to Israel.
His parents had made a vow to God. He was consecrated to God. He knew the
rules, but he broke them and finally told Delilah - who was paid by the
Philistines to find out wherein lay his great strength - the secret of God!

I'm
afraid the Church today is becoming worldly and losing her great testimony
and strength! The Church is asleep today!

3.
DISCIPLES ASLEEP - A PICTURE OF A PRAYER LESS CHURCH!

In
Matthew 26: 36 - 44, we see a picture of a prayer less Church! In His hour
of greatest need, His inner circle disciples let Him down! Jesus' heart was
heavy, knowing that He had to face betrayal, denial, scourging, mocking and
the Cross. He knew that the sins of the entire world would be laid upon Him.
He would carry our sin, shame, pain, sickness and judgment, so we could
be free!

As
these tremendous burdens fell upon Him so that He "sweat as it were
great drops of blood", He was depending upon support from His
disciples, especially His inner circle of Peter, James and John, but they
also fell asleep! Three times He called upon Them to pray with Him as His
hour was approaching, but no, they could couldn't keep their eyes open!

He
asked: "What, can't you even watch with Me for one hour?" Not even
a single hour, in His most pressing hour, as He battled the flesh and the
devil.

I
wonder how Jesus feels today, when He sees the prayerlessness of Christian
people and the coldness of our churches? In a survey in the USA, it was found that on average
Christians prayed three minutes each day and on average,
preachers prayed nine minutes a day!

Martin
Luther - the great reformer - prayed an average of three hours every
day. He said that if he missed praying at least two hours a day, the devil
would get the advantage over him! Is it any wonder that he could stand alone
against the evils of the Roman Pope, the Cardinals, Nobles and the Emperor,
and bring revival to Europe?

4.
EUTYCHUS - A PICTURE OF THE CHURCH FALLING ASLEEP IN THE REVIVAL!

In
Acts 20: 7 - 10, we find a picture of the some in the churches falling
asleep in the middle of the revival. Young people going to BibleCollegeand
backsliding there. Hundreds of young men and women have gone to liberal
seminaries with a desire to serve GOD and have lost their faith in the Bible
and Jesus Christ as the Divine Son of God, through unsaved professors.

It
also happens in EvangelicalBibleCollegesand
Churches. Ministers have fallen into sin in the heat of a revival! Be
careful, after every great victory the TEMPTER will very slyly seek inroads,
when your guard is down! After God had given Eve to Adam, the devil
appeared. After Noah had over lived the flood, he got drunk and Canaan was
cursed through his father Ham's actions. After Lotescaped
the judgment of God upon Sodom,
he got drunk and committed incest with his daughters. After Samson and David
had scored victory after victory, they both fell into sexual sins with
terrible consequences.

And
after Jesus had fasted 40 days, Satan came to tempt Him. Jesus rebuffed the
devil and he had to flee, but he tried unsuccessfully to seduce
our Saviour.

5.
THE FIVE
FOOLISH VIRGINS A PICTURE OF THE UNPREPARED

CHURCH

In
Matthew 25: 1 -10, we see a picture of a Church that is not ready to meet
Jesus. A church without the oil of the Holy Spirit is a foolish church, like
the five foolish virgins! A church without the Oil of the Holy Spirit is a
powerless church and is asleep.

Commenting
on the parable of Jesus about the 'Sower and the Seed', D.L. Moody stated
that there are three groups of Christians! The seed that fell on good ground
produced fruit, some thirty, some sixty and some 100 per cent. The
great Evangelist felt that the thirty per cent represents those who
have gotten saved and stopped growing. The sixty per cent were those who
became strong in God and were separated from the world. The last group, he
stated, was the best; those who had sought God and received the Baptism of
the Holy Spirit according to John 7:
37-
38.

Jesus
said that the Kingdomof
Heaven-not
the kingdom of the world - shall be likened unto ten virgins - not young
women or prostitutes, but VIRGINS! This is a picture of believers
who have started on the journey to meet Jesus, but five were wise while five
were foolish! This is a picture of the Church, with only 50 per cent
ready to meet Jesus when the trumpet sounds!

It
behooves us to repent of every sin, pray until we are sanctified and set
apart for Jesus - from the world, flesh and the devil - and baptized in the
Holy Spirit and fire! The Bible says that Jesus is coming for a
"glorious Church without spot or wrinkle." (Eph. 5: 27)

In
closing, allow me to quote three powerful Scriptures:

"And
that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for
now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent,
the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let
us put on the Armour of light.

"Let
us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in
chambering and wanton ness, not in strife and envying." (Romans 13: 11-
13)

"For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether
it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror (wrath) of God, we persuade
men..." (2 Corinthians 5:
10-11)

"Wherefore
He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ
shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools,
but as wise. Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." (Eph. 5:
14 - 16). Amen.